


Nobody

by innerfangirl



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Captain America (Movies), Daredevil (TV), Iron Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Avengers Family, Multi, POV Skye, Platonic Relationships, Post-Avengers (2012), Pre-Avengers (2012), Protective Avengers, Science Family, Skye's Past
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-29
Updated: 2016-09-09
Packaged: 2018-01-21 07:52:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1543268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/innerfangirl/pseuds/innerfangirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Skye knew all of the Avengers before they were a team. She stayed with them through it all- some closer than others.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Clint

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “By the time we began to understand enough about what the world to ask the right questions, our visit is over, and someone else is visiting, asking the same questions.”  
> ― D.K. LeVick

She first met Clint at the  _Carson Carnival of Traveling Wonders_.

Sister Catherine had organized a field trip as a reward for some of the children that were doing well in their classes. Despite her 'C' in Art, Skye had been allowed to join them- Skye privately believed that the nuns thought showing her the rewards would convince her to attend art classes again. They were going to be disappointed.

The carnival was not as nice as the fair always held in the fall, but Skye still allowed herself to be swept up in the enthusiasm of the other visitors. Vendors sold trinkets and other handmade items; booths covering the sides of the path while children selling flowers wove through the crowds. Games and tents for different "Amazing Acts" littered the area and Skye quickly dodged a mob of kids she knew from school rushing toward a basketball game.

"Hey, there," Skye shrunk back as her group's leader put his hand on her shoulder. "I almost lost you. We have such a large group, you really should keep close." He said. She nodded back instantly, pushing down the urge to shudder with revulsion. For some reason he made her uncomfortable, but only her friend Matt shared the uneasiness.

They were probably just being dramatic.

The leader walked away and Skye made a show of keeping close to the group. She wished Matt was there with her, but he had had to stay back for his private tutoring. He wanted to go to college and since his old tutor had suddenly left he was struggling with keeping up his grades.

A short, chubby man appeared in front of her, his blue pinstripe suit almost as attention catching as his sweat plastered comb-over and limp mustache. "I bet a real pretty lady like you wants to see the Greatest Marksman in action, huh?" He gestured to a poster of a teenager aiming a bow and arrow at the camera. He had the same bored expression that showed up in school pictures. A tight, purple, sleeveless shirt showed off muscles but the entire poster was glowed with the thick sheen of gloss that she didn't know what was digitally edited and what was real. "It's only two dollars and you can see him shoot." He offered.

Skye shook her head negatively and took a step back.

"Don't have two dollars." She explained. The man instantly turned around and walked to a woman staring at the poster of a "MERMAID LADY!" Skye turned back to the poster of the boy and hummed. Maybe when she was rich and famous she would see things like that.

She walked away, looking around for her group who had disappeared in the crowd. Skye turned a corner to see a familiar looking boy leaning against a pole on the side of a tent. An almost used up cigarette was between his fingers, smoke rolling from his mouth as he breathed out. A bow lay beside him, in a distance close enough to be grabbed in a second.

It took a few moments before Skye recognized him as the boy from the poster. She glanced back and couldn't find the group; she hesitated for a second before the smell of nicotine became too appealing and she walked toward the boy.

Skye gripped the hems of her sleeves nervously, but walked forward anyway. "Got one to spare?"

The teen glanced over at her and raised an eyebrow. "For you? What are you, five?"

"Does it matter?" Skye asked.

He laughed, a short and bitter sound that reminded her of Matt. "Not really, but I don't want some angry cop after my ass. Go find your parents, kid. Save smoking until you're older."

"And you're so much older?" Skye demanded.

"Now _that_  really doesn't matter. The cigarettes are mine." He took another long drag. "Besides, you wouldn't know how to smoke and I ain't having some kid draw attention to me by coughing on her first cigarette."

Skye smirked, snatching the cigarette from his hand and breathing deeply.

She had only smoked once other time; a girl a few years older had snuck a pack into the dorms and they had cracked a window in the bathroom. The girl- Abby?- had collected money from the girls to pay for the pack and had had her boyfriend buy them since he was over 18.

As Skye took a drag from the cigarette, she wondered what happened to the older girl. There were rumors she had gotten pregnant from the said boyfriend and gotten kicked out by the sisters. Knowing Abby however briefly, Skye thought it was possible.

Skye didn't cough at the invasion of the bitter taste and instead breathed the smoke out in a long tendril. The boy smirked in surprise and bowed exaggeratedly.

"Damn, kid." He approved. She grinned, and then started coughing as she breathed in clean air. He laughed but didn't seem to be laughing at her. Skye sat beside him, grabbing another, fresh, cigarette from where it stuck out from his pocket.

"I'm Skye, by the way."

"Clint. Your parent's hippies? Most kids don't have nature names." He asked, flicking his lighter open and letting Skye to lite her cigarette. Skye shrugged at the question.

"I don't know. Orphan." She said. He gave a ring of smoke in sympathy. She leaned back on the tent and looked at the sky to watch a cloud looking suspiciously like a bunny float through the gap between the tents.

"Hey, Sharpshooter!" Another kid that looked like an older Clint looked out from the tent. "Your ass is up. People payin' to see ya." He looked at Skye uninterestedly. "Scram."

"Bye, kid." Clint flicked his cigarette to the concrete and ground it with the tip of his shoe. "Anyone finds out where you got that cigarette and you'll regret it." The threat seemed like an afterthought and she waved it off. He turned to walk back into the tent before looking back and giving her a long look. "Come on in, kid. Today you get to see the Amazing Hawkeye." The other boy looked like he was going to protest and he continued. "I'll handle Duquesne, Barney." He boy- Barney- held up his hands in defeat.

"Whatever. Just come do your shit." He disappeared and Clint nodded at the opening.

"You want to come in? Just for a bit until you finish the cigarette." He asked. Skye shrugged. She didn't really want to go get back to the rest of the group.

She walked inside and Clint followed, closing the gap behind her. There was a stool on one side inside and a brightly painted target circle on the other. Skye sat down in the back corner as Clint perched on the stool, arrow and bow at the ready. A family of three walked in, the large father dragging a lanky boy in and pointing to Clint excitedly.

"Here's a real man. You should be more manly." He rumbled. The wife laughed shrilly, and pushed her son forward. "Watch."

Clint looked bored and quickly shot off three arrows, each hitting the center of the bulls-eye. The other boy looked amazed, the parents nudging him again and again. Skye leaned her head against the pole of the tent and closed her eyes for a second.

When she opened them Clint was inches away from her face and snapping. "Hey, kid. You got to leave. Carnival closed five minutes ago."

Skye stared in disbelief. "And you've let me sleep until now, why?" He just shrugged.

"You seemed tired." Clint backed up and Skye saw he had changed into jeans and a t-shirt. "Besides, no one called around looking for you so I figured your group wasn't leaving yet."

Skye nodded, pushing herself up. "Right. Well, thanks. See you at next year's carnival then." She stepped out of the tent, not surprised to see a slight drizzle greeting her. The weather in this city seemed as dependable as an ADD kid on a sugar high.

She walked the path that the last of the people were. Tents were already being pulled down, and several women who Skye had seen auctioning off jewelry and stuffed animals earlier were sitting on lawn chairs in front of trailers and pointing the direction of the exit, meanwhile having a conversation in what sounded like Greek.

Eventually the exit came into sight, the almost empty parking lot behind it. Skye glanced around for the bright yellow bus, with 'SISTER OF THE CHILDREN ORPHANAGE' written on the side that they had arrived in, but all she could see were minivans and sports cars. She still walked up and down the aisles. Cars honked at her, more than one driver giving her a concerned look before being distracted by a passenger.

A dark skinned woman with vivid colored clothes was ushering people to the cars, holding a delicate looking umbrella over her head. Skye walked up to her and nodded out to the parking lot. "Have you seen a bus leave?"

The woman gave her a steady look back. "Honey, I have seen more buses today than I ever wanted to. Let's get some more information, huh?" Skye gave a quick description and the woman shook her head. "No, sugar. If there was a bus like that here, it must have left before the carnival closed. I'd suggest walkin', but nothing's around here for an hour at least- and that's by car." She looked Skye up and down before leaning back on her heels. "Want to join the circus?"

The way the question was asked, Skye thought she might as well have asked what time it was. Skye gave her a shrewd look. "You don't know me."

The lady stuck out a hand. "Millie. Unless you talk to my clients, then I'm Madame Elivana, physic and belly-dancer extraordinaire."

Skye shook it. "Skye." She paused before looking around the parking lot once more. "I won't join, but I could take a ride to the next stop."

Millie grinned. "Okay." She seemed to be smiling to a secret Skye was missing. "You can be my muscle for a bit. Come on, my tent needs to be fully packed into the damn RV."

 

 

* * *

 

 

Somehow a year went by before Skye remembered she was only going to the next town. She blamed it on the busyness of setting up and unpacking and the pleasant buzz of knowing she was being helpful.

She didn't mind. She had even moved up from muscle to assistant.

"Skye!" Skye glanced down the tree she had climbed and saw Clint standing there, a hand held up to block the glare of the sun. "Come on, kid. Food's ready." Skye leaned her head against the bark of the tree and grinned at him.

"Come up here." She countered.

"Kid…" Clint tilted warningly. She grinned bigger, and waved a hand.

"Come on!" Clint shrugged and reached up to grab a branch, climbing up the lower branches to sit on the branch beside her. He looked out and she leaned her head on his shoulder.

"So how long was it before you decided to climb this monster?" He asked. Skye shrugged.

"That would imply there was a question at some point of if I would climb it." She stated. His shouldered shook silently in laughter and she smacked him to keep him still. "Shut up and just look." She said. The tree was on top of a hill, the rest of the treetops seeming to carpet the ground under the bright colors of the setting sun.

It was beautiful and Skye couldn't take her eyes off it.

Clint was not as impressed. "What the hell is with your Disney scene shit?" He asked. Skye ignored him, as long as he didn't move she didn't care. After a few moments she remembered part of a play that she had studied when she went to school.

" _The poor soul sat sighing by a sycamore tree, Sing all a green willow; Her hand on her bosom, her head on her knee, Sing willow, willow, willow The fresh streams ran by her, and murmured her moans, Her salt tears fell from her, & softened the stones; Sing all a green willow must be my garland. Let nobody blame him; his scorn I approve, I call'd my love false love; but what said he then? If I court more women, you'll couch with moe men._" Skye whispered. Clint turned to look consideringly at her.

"What's that?"

Skye shrugged. "A song from  _Othello_ ," seeing his blank look she explained, "Shakespeare. We have got to get you more cultured, I swear. We read it in English class."

"Fourth grade English class changed since my time."

Skye laughed and bumped his shoulder. "Clint, I wasn't in the Fourth grade. I was in ninth grade English class- in high school. I skipped a couple grades at the beginning." Clint gave her a disbelieving stare, more like a gape. "I was really good at math and science. They let me skip after I annoyed teachers enough."

"Damn kid, you're a genius." Clint laughed and Skye blushed. "Don't be embarrassed. You skipped grades because of  _math_ and  _science_. All things considered, you're smarter than half of this show, if not all." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and kissed her forehead. "Be proud of that, kid. Don't let anyone make you otherwise." They sat there for a few minutes before he shrugged her head off his shoulder. "Come on, food's ready and getting cold."

He jumped down, holding arms up to catch Skye who jumped after. She was placed on the ground and they started walking down the hill to the camp. Some of the ladies had set up clotheslines stringing from RV to RV, clothes of all colors draped on the wires. Skye ran through the fabrics, ignoring some of the yells not to. Clint just ducked around them, waving off the yells with yells of his own.

"You haven't taught me Greek in a while." Skye noticed. Clint shrugged.

"You haven't expressed an interest in a while." He said. "Tell me when we have some free time, genius." Skye laughed again, not caring that turning her head got wisps of hair in her mouth.

Skye turned back to see most of the camp eating from assortments of bowls, most just drinking straight instead of using spoons. Carnival folk- the main pillars of manners in the community.

"Girlie," Millie called. Skye and Clint walked over and Millie shoved two bowls of food at them. "If you were starin' at the sunset of somethin' stupid like that, we are going to have a talk. Life ain't no movie."

"That's what I told her." Clint said, sipping at his soup.

Skye just rolled her eyes and laughed. Spending so many days cooped up in an orphanage, staring at white walls and cleaning rather than windows and sunshine, this was a movie.

She wouldn't go back to reality now.

 

 

* * *

 

 

The wind blew her hair out of her braid. Skye clutched at the hood of her jacket, holding it down despite the storm. Rain pelted her side and she longed for the warmth of the RV where Millie promised cable and stroganoff.

She hitched up her skirt higher, ignoring the voice in the back of her head that sounded remarkably like Millie telling her that only whores raised their skirts that high. Millie had become weirdly maternal over the past few years they had been together, even if mentioning the change earned a smack on the back of her head courtesy of said woman.

Skye pulled her shirt away from her skin and mourned the loss of her t-shirts. Money was tight around the carnival and once she had outgrown the shirts, Millie had simply bought her a bundle of flowing shirts that would also work when she was working the tent. Skye had resisted until Millie had earned her respect sewing up the chest of one of the strongmen after a bar fight gone wrong.

She was almost at Millie's tent when a shadow jutted from the door and grabbed her and covered her mouth, pulling her into the shadows. She almost screamed but then the person spoke.

"Kid." Clint. "I'm going to remove my hand." The hand fell and Skye twisted around to look at him.

"What the hell?" She hissed. Then she froze and her heart stuttered before going twice as fast. "Clint?" His face was white even in the darkness, eyes twitching to the door of the trailer almost involuntarily. He shrugged off his trench coat, the leather one he was so proud of, and shoved it at her.

"You need to run. The carnival's closing." He let her go and pushed her slightly. "Don't look back, run." Her feet started moving as she pulled on the too big coat. If he said to run, she would. Skye looked back as a loud gunshot went off and she heard Millie screamed. She hesitated and turned back slightly, but Clint shoved her away. "Run, Skye." She was tempted to turn back again but another shot had her running as fast as she could.

Maybe if she could run fast enough she could turn back time. Millie would be fine. It would be that morning with Skye yelling out advertisements outside of schools with Clint, ignoring the mocking tones of the students for the prizes in people's pockets. She picked up speed and ducked under the fence surrounding a cornfield.

She finally stumbled and fell, falling to all fours on the mud puddles and gasping for air. Her chest was heaving and at one point she was sick on the ground. Skye had no idea if she was crying or if it was the rain pelting her cheeks, she was too numb and everything was soaked.

She eventually stumbled up and raised her face to the rain. She pushed her hair, now the braid loose and tumbling around her, back from her face.

Time to leave. Time to go back to make something of herself.

On the way running she passed a peeling sign, 'SISTER OF THE CHILDREN ORPHANAGE'.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tell me what you think! This is going to be the first of many, so try to stick with me please!


	2. Tony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you.”  
> ― Elbert Hubbard

Skye stared at the dorm building in disgust, checking the slip of paper again. The name matched, now she just had to find the room number.

She shouldered past a muscle man holding another man in a chokehold, both laughing. A girl in five-inch pumps, too tall for walking across muddy grass, was holding a case of beer casually. She waved it up in the air at a boy across the quad and he hollered back in happiness. Skye forced a smile as a guy bumped into her trying to catch a football.

The dorm room hallways were small, full of doors open with people spilling out and walking around. Skye climbed upstairs two flights and groaned at the sight of even more people. A half-naked guy ran out the door, his chest painted red and grey.

"SCIENCE BOWL CHAMPIONS, M-I-T, M-I-T!" He shouted, stumbling down the hallway. Skye rolled her eyes. What else would MIT get excited for?

Skye found the room that her paper listed, walking inside and putting her bag down on her bed. It was a cozy room, much bigger than she expected and the floor covered in a comfortable looking grey carpet. "Hey, roomie?" Skye turned to see a short girl standing in the doorway. She had thick square glasses and short brown pixie-cut hair that reminded Skye a little of the Velma character off of Scooby-doo. Skye nodded in hello and her new roommate beamed and pulled her into a hug. "I'm Chloe." Skye awkwardly pat Chloe's back, wishing the other girl would let her go.

"Cool. I'm Skye." Chloe backed up and waved her hands around her head excitedly.

"That is such a cool name! I wanted to change my name to Summer, because my physic told me that summer was my season. Dad threatened to disown me, though. He's really old fashioned. So, what's your major?"

"Computer science and engineering." Skye said. She felt out of place, but quickly fell into her carnival attitude. Confidence existed as a thick mask to block any weakness. It had worked well through her year of high school too. "What about you?"

"Oh, I'm in for Political Science. I want to be senator one day, then hopefully president." Chloe said, full of confidence. Skye smiled.

A great friendship was starting.

 

 

 

 

Skye flopped down onto the ground beside Chloe, bent in half with laughter. Chloe took one look and laughed back at her. "You can not handle yourself in public. Seriously, why not wear a shirt that has drunk written on it?" Skye shook her head.

"I’m not drunk." She denied. "Not drunk at all. High, quite possibly, but not drunk." Skye said. She knew how much it took for her to get drunk; she had found that out a lot over the years, and two beers was not that at all. Chloe giggled and took another swig of the beer. She pushed the box with the remaining beer toward Skye.

"You're really funny." Chloe said. Skye looked up at the sky, waving at the stars and lightening bugs. They were on the quad; a plaid blanket spread out so the two of them could sit without getting muddy. The stars seemed to be winking in and out at them, dancing around a small crescent moon. "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players." Chloe quoted.

"They have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts," Skye responded. "Shakespeare, a man who loved language more than any woman."

"Or man." Chloe said. She shrugged a sweatshirt-covered shoulder. "All those rumors about him having a man lover he wrote the plays for. 'Romeo and Juliet' was supposed to be written for the servant boy of a neighbor."

Skye turned her head lazily to look at the figure that walked up beside them. He looked average, medium height with black hair and too expensive clothes. "Progressive boy, our William was. You didn't tell me you were having a party tonight, Chloe." Skye raised an eyebrow at him and glanced over to Chloe. Chloe just rolled her eyes.

"Shut up, Stark." Chloe demanded. "I'm having a conversation with my roomie Skye.” She turned away from him and back toward her younger roommate. “He's Tony Stark, Professor Clemens's teaching assistant. His daddy’s an inventor, but he seems pretty average."

"Ouch. That hurts." Tony smirked, throwing a hand dramatically over his chest. "I'll have you know that I am a great engineer and a great conversationalist." He paused before winking at Skye. "And that’s just the basics of what I excel at." Skye laughed at him.

“Uh huh. I’m sure you’re some hot stuff.”

Tony laughed and sat down beside them, grabbing one of the extra beers confidently and taking a swig. "So, Skye what?"

Skye stopped laughing but kept the smile plastered on her face. "Only Skye. Why?" Tony shrugged and took another swig.

"Curious."

"Curiosity killed the cat." Skye warned. Then she nodded toward the bottle in his hand. "Drink slow, buddy. We kind of have to make this case while." Tony nodded and leaned back.

Tony stretched out beside them, his hands behind his head. "You guys do this every night, then?" They shook their heads.

"Nah." Chloe said. “We got better things to do usually. Tonight's just special. It's Skye's birthday." She bumped the younger girls shoulder. "She's turning 20 tonight! Right?" She sang happily, beaming at Skye.

Skye looked at the stars, humming an agreement. In the back of her mind she felt slightly guilty. She wasn’t turning 20; she wasn’t even turning 18 yet. She leaned back on the blanket and wished herself a happy 14th birthday. It had almost been enough years for her to be old enough to drive.

"Happy birthday then, Princess." Tony wished. She ignored the hints of sarcasm in the statement and thanked him. A woman's voice called Tony's name and he groaned, rolling his eyes. "Hell no."

"Tony! Tony, baby!" A blonde girl and a red head both practically raced over to them. "Tony! I totally forgot to give you my email. Well, I'm fairly certain I forgot to give you phone number too, but I'm not fully sure. Luckily, though, Amanda here told me to just give it to again. Here it is." The blonde paused and leaned down to give a full view of her cleavage. "You know, we're free tonight if you want to catch dinner, and then maybe…" She trailed off, fingering the collar of her shirt so that no one was missing what she was implying.

"Maybe later, Katie." Tony told her. "Maybe later." She pouted and crossed her arms, boobs getting even further pushed up.

"Twenty bucks if she falls out of her shirt." Chloe whispered. Skye nodded. Skye was always open to winning money through luck, especially when she didn't have any money to lose and Chloe always forgot to collect on money.

Amanda wrapped an arm around the other girl to pull her away and her shirt almost curled under her bra on one side, but it was caught in time. She moved away along with the other girl.

"Damn you." Chloe snapped, she dug a twenty out of her pocket and stuffed it in Skye's waiting fist. "That was my last twenty, you know. You are paying next time we go somewhere." Skye laughed, shaking her head; like hell she was paying.

Skye tilted her head toward Tony who was laughing as he figured what they were betting on. "You just won me twenty bucks. You can stay all you like, rich boy."

 

 

 

 

Skye walked upstairs to the apartment she had rented, trying to ignore the difference between it and her dorm. Even her dorm hallways, as small and as gross smelling as they were, was clean and didn't have hookers and drug dealers obvious on the stairs. A man in a large green overcoat called out to her and she ignored him beyond flipping him off.

She grabbed for the new key and opened the door, leaning on it to shove it open. The smell of marijuana was strong and the room was still hazy from the previous occupant. The curtains had tears and the something scurried behind the bed to under the bed.

She tried not to think about what would be that large and hairy.

"Home sweet home." Skye dropped her bag on a chair that looked relatively cleaner than the bed and opened it for some clothes. She had been lucky to get the apartment back. More people had moved in since the crack dealer had expanded business.

She dressed out of the jeans and MIT t-shirt, pulling on her shorts, shirts, and high heels required for her job. The heels gave her an extra seven inches and she was still privately amazed that she could walk in them despite the years of practicing. She grabbed Clint’s old coat and slipped it on, not willing to broadcast her career.

Skye shoved the rest of her money in her hollow bible, shoving the book beneath her clothes in her bag. Honor amongst thieves was shit once free money was involved.

She locked the door behind her and headed back out, ignoring everyone else. The club was just around the block, houses getting less sketchy and cleaner before turning into businesses. A line was already in front of the door, the bouncer glaring down any kid that tried to sneak by. Skye walked up to him and showed him her employee id.

They exchanged nods and she brushed past him to the back, climbing over the raised doorway to the dressing room.

Some of the other girls were already there putting on finishing touches to make up and hair. Almost none were legal yet, the younger the more paid. Skye wasn't the youngest at fifteen by a long shot. The club wasn't classy, but it was a safer alternative to a street corner. At least at the club she had security protecting her if anyone got to friendly.

"Skye!" One of the younger girls- Shelia- hugged her. "How was school?"

"Same old. I'm working more with computers now." Skye said. The girls at the club were the only ones that knew her age and had all sworn to secrecy. They all understood the importance of keeping some secrets: between street lords and well-meaning cops secrets had to be closely guarded. "You still in school?"

"Yep. Not sure for how long, though. Momma needs me now that Celia had her new baby." She said. "He's a cute baby, though. He doesn't cry much neither so we get sleep. I remember with Celia's first, Sandy, all she did was cry and cry. We weren’t surprised when she turned out sick. She’s better now, though, thank God."

"Don't you mention His name here." Steve, the stage manager, was at the door. He flipped through papers on a clipboard and waved his hand to collect the names he called out. "Aright Sheila, Skye, and Lana. You’re all up, usual posts. Remember, girls, they don't come here to see classy girls on stage."

"They don't see them off the stage much, either." Skye muttered and Sheila laughed.

Steve gave her an annoyed look but was distracted by the girls exiting. "For the love of-, Brittney could you not stop there? There is a fucking line of people behind you." He pushed through the small room and started ranting at a girl who entered.

Skye didn't recognize her and realized she hadn’t been there the past summer. She even looked new- shame still on her face.

Skye followed the others onto the small pathway leading to the circular stages. Each stage was big enough for one person to stand and dance, with a pole running up the center. Lights flashed through the whole club, bodies of the crowd moving with the loud pulsing beat.

Skye briefly glanced through the club before cutting off everyone else and focusing on herself. She had done exercising pole dancing with some of the ladies in the carnival and if she focused on those memories, the dancing wasn't as bad. She just had to follow another beat and move her hips more.

She was just getting into it when another body moved to her stage and pulled her back to the present. Skye gaped at Tony as he frowned down at her, pulling her away. A couple of lonely men booed at the action, but he didn't seem to care.

"Tony? Tony, what the hell?" Skye yelled, still not heard over the music. Sheila gave her a concerned look from where she was dancing and Skye shrugged helplessly. Tony pulled her all the way to the dressing room before throwing the coat she brought at her.

"I can’t believe he was right. Get dressed. You're going home." He commanded. She rocked back on her heels and crossed her arms.

"Oh, really? I have to pay for that home and this is my job. You don't like it, don't visit. It's simple." Skye said. She was aware of two of the girls in the room staring shamelessly. "I have to work, Tony. I'll see you at school next semester." She moved to go back on stage but he grabbed her arm.

"Skye." He said. She looked at him and cursed as soon as she did. He had the same expression that Clint used to when he was trying to stop Skye from doing something stupid, like riding the elephants at two in the morning. She wilted and turned her back to the stage.

"Okay." She said. Skye turned to look at Steve who had come out of his office. "Apparently I quit." She announced then walked out. Might as well make an exit, even if she had only been back for a night.

She let Tony lead her away, an arm around her waist. He took her out of the club and past the line of people waiting and chatting. A black car was waiting on the street and a man held the door open to both of them then closed it once they were inside.

"Where's your house?" Tony asked. Skye gave directions and the car drove away. It was only once they were in front of the building that he spoke again. She had made a move to get out and he just grabbed her wrist. "Wait." She did so, feeling like a puppy.

He called and she followed. Then again, she had nothing to lose at this point.

The driver got out of the car and held the door open again. "Miss Skye." He requested. She got out and Tony followed until the three of them were standing by the car. "If you want to go to your apartment, we will follow."

"What?" Skye interrupted. "No, you can't come up. No, sorry, but you have to go. Look I got to find a job, now, all right? You need to leave."

Tony just repeated her name and gave her another one of Clint's looks. She cursed at him, but lead up the stairs to her apartment. One of the hookers moved to walk toward them but the driver must have done something because she backed up quickly.

"It's kind of a mess, I didn't clean." Skye said, crossing her arms as she opened the door.

They didn't comment.

"Skye, grab your stuff. You're leaving." It wasn't phrased like a question and Skye meant to snap back but the animal scurried again and she just grabbed her only bag. They walked back out and to the car, not speaking again.

Once back inside the car Tony spoke. "Skye, you're 15." She shot her head up and leaned back. "Relax. I won't tell, but I'm not letting you strip for a living when your friends with the heir to one of the wealthiest companies in the world- if not the richest by this point. You're coming to live with me. If you don't like that then you can live at one of my houses." He waved off his wealth in a way that made Skye jealous.

"I don't take charity, Tony." She said. He rolled his eyes.

"Princess, it's not charity. You have one of the greatest minds and you're not even old enough to drive. Think of what you will be able to do in twenty years; Hell, think of what you could do in two! Plus, think of it as me doing my civic duty as an American. You’re underage and in need of a guardian. Congratulations, you got me. Lucky you." Tony said. He paused before speaking quieter. “I shouldn’t have to get information about one of my friends from _Justin fucking Hammer_.” Skye rolled her eyes back. She knew it was useless to argue. Chloe was stubborn but Tony out passed even her, Skye had learned to roll with the punches with the two of them.

"Yea." She intoned. She looked out the window of the car, leaning her head against the cold glass. It felt like a dream. Skye blinked lazily at Tony before smiling slightly. She whispered to the window. "Thank you."

 

 

"Tony, I mean it! You are going to be late!" Skye looked up from her tablet as Pepper waved a folder at the billionaire. Pepper was looking her usual put-together-but-thoroughly-harassed self. "Skye, please tell him!"

Skye closed her windows and leaned against the pillows. She had been living in the Stark Tower for almost two years, long enough for her to get the flow of things. "Tony, listen to Pepper." Tony shot her a mock-betrayed look and she shrugged. "I know who's really in charge."

"One day." He threatened. Everyone knew he was bluffing. He could never get rid of Pepper and would never get rid of Skye. Even Chloe knew that and she didn't even know the full story of why Skye was living in the Stark Tower to start with.

Sometimes Skye felt she didn't know the whole story. It still seemed like she would wake up one day to see the stained apartment walls and furry roommate instead of a designed room and floor length windows.

Skye looked back at her tablet and waved distractedly over the couch. "Have fun at your Expo. Make the others jealous of your newest toys." Tony nodded and he and Pepper moved to the elevator still bickering fondly. "J-baby, I may take a nap if you could wake me up in a hour?"

"Yes, Miss." JARVIS replied. Skye felt the small surge of pride she always did at the AI. She had helped Tony with a small part of creating him, adjusting math and doing what directed to in the lab. It was her baby despite Tony's claims that JARVIS was all his.

Skye laid the tablet on the table beside her and leaned back on the couch. She had been working on her latest project for three days straight, having Pepper bring her coffee when she brought Tony his. She was honestly surprised that Pepper did it. None of her inventions went to Stark Industries any more (she was going through what Tony and Obi called her "hippie phase" and protesting things having to do with the war.)

"Miss. It has been one hour and thirty minutes." JARVIS's voice jolted her and she woke up with a start. "Miss? You are in Malibu, the weather is 85 degrees and sunny. There is a 35% chance of rain," He started but Skye interrupted him.

"Not a nightmare, J. Just startled me, that's all." Skye interrupted.

"Of course, Miss. Just making sure. You were not responding." He clarified. She hummed an agreement before leaning to pick back up her tablet. Her work was on the screen still and she went back to typing in data and figuring measurements needed. She had decided on a hologram notepad, trying to save the trees and because she thought it would be cooler than just paper.

She was not sure how long she had been working before JARVIS started speaking again. "Miss. Mr. Stane is trying to gain access to this floor via elevator. Are you granting him access?" Skye waved a negative distractedly. She was so close to a breakthrough. Obi would understand, he always did. She was almost back in the zone before the AI spoke again. "Miss. Mr. Stane is very insistent that he speak with you."

Skye sighed and put her tablet aside before responding. "Alright. Let him in. Come on, J-baby, let's grow a backbone next time, okay?"

"I am incapable of growing anything." Skye rolled her eyes. He was apparently capable of growing a sense of sarcasm. She had not programmed him to get sassy.

The ding of the elevator doors had her look over and smile at the man walking in. Her eyes flickered up to his bald head involuntarily before back to his face. It had always amazed her that he had absolutely no hair on the top of his head, just pictures showing he did in fact have hair once besides the beard. He looked haunted and he stumbled in to sit at her feet, holding her outstretched hand.

"Skye, sweetheart. I have some bad news." He paused and seemed to collect himself. "It's about Tony." He closed his eyes and looked away. Skye sat up, worried. She had seen Obi go toe to toe with senators and presidents. There was nothing that ruffled him.

"Obi, Obi, what's wrong? You're scaring me." She said.

He covered his face with his other hand and took several deep breaths. "Skye, there was an accident. The van Tony was in… it was attacked. He's-." He shook his head. Skye's chest felt suddenly tight and she shook her head.

"What? No, no Tony's fine. I saw him minutes ago." Skye said.

“Seven hours ago, Miss." JARVIS corrected. Skye blinked and checked her phone. Huh, what do you know?

"But that still doesn't mean that Tony was attacked. He's fine." Skye denied. Obi just gave her a sad look. "No! He can't be missing, Obi! Tony's fine! He's-," She lost her composure and started sobbing. The older man pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her, rocking her on his lap and muttering reassurances. She buried her face in his sweater and let the tears fall.

She couldn't lose another person. She wouldn't.

 

 

"Run that by me again, Skye?" Rodney asked. Skye dropped her forehead to the counter before rising to put her chin on the surface instead.

"J and I have been doing some research and have narrowed it down to a section of Afghanistan. We have done enough searching that we are almost 86% sure of where Tony is, Rodney." Skye repeated. She sat up and leaned back in the stool of the kitchen. "All you have to do is look at the map and send some troops."

She could hear Rodney sigh. "Look, Skye. We can’t do anything else right now. It's been three months, too long for us to send another search without sufficient proof- think 95% proof. Too much money is being spent. I have been trying but they're telling me no." She bit the inside of her cheek in anger. "Look, Skye, I got to go. I'll talk to you later, okay? I love you."

"Love you too, platypus." She closed her eyes to block out the click of the phone. She stood up and walked over to the bar cart. She opened a vial of scotch and poured it in a glass. Skye had rediscovered the miracles of alcohol while Tony was gone and not even Pepper's disappointing looks and comments on her age- even the age being wrong by years- could stop her from enjoying those miracles.

Skye sipped at her glass and cursed the military. After all the things Tony had invented for them, nothing was being done to help him. She knew he was alive despite what Obi, the press, and government claimed.

"J-baby." Skye spoke up. "Can you pull up the hologram program on my laptop? I need to do some work. Get something productive done."

"Miss. Might you want to sleep before you go back to work? You have been up for almost 120 hours only drinking scotch." JARVIS advised. Skye gave him a bitter smile and took another swig of her drink.

"Only 120 hours?" Skye said. "Barely anytime at all. Do me a favor and only tell me when it has been six days." She reached for her computer and started working through the numbers again. The screen went black suddenly and she held her hands up in surrender. "JARVIS, what did you just do?"

There was a second before her responded. "You need to get some sleep, Miss.” Skye moved to protest but he interrupted. "I am sticking with this, Miss."

"Bastard." She muttered.

"I heard that." JARVIS said. Skye stuck out her tongue and swallowed the last of her glass. She got up to refill it but he spoke again. "I think you will find the bar off limits. Another thing necessary." Skye glanced to see the glass case over the cart, bullet proof and unyielding as it was designed.

She threw the glass at the wall and walked over to fall into the couch. A few hours sleep and then she would be ready for anything.

"SKYE! SKYE!" Skye jerked awake to see Pepper shaking her shoulders and yelling at her. "Skye!" She sat up and waved her back slightly but she didn't move. She was beaming so loud and laughing slightly. "They found him! They found Tony!" Skye was instantly awake and grabbed the other woman's shoulders.

"What?" She asked.

"Tony! Somehow Rodney got where they should search and got a plane and Tony was just there in the sand. He'll be home in about an hour at the most. We were a little late in getting the information." Pepper said. Skye felt herself start to cry and she hugged Pepper tightly.

"I want to be in the car." Skye said. She untangled herself and stood up. "Let me change and I'll go with you." Pepper nodded and Skye ran to her room to throw on a pair of jeans under her t-shirt instead of her night shorts. She walked back out barefoot and to the elevator. "Come on, Pepper, Tony's coming home."

They arrived at the base where the plane was to land and Pepper got out of the car. She spoke quietly to a soldier on guard standing. After a minute, she walked back to the car.

"Chris says that the base is secure for the moment. No one should be here for a while. Obi's on speed dial for once the plane arrives." Pepper said. "You can get out of the car if you want." Skye nodded and walked out of the car and leaned against it. "Tony will be here soon." Skye nodded and pulled out her phone. "What are you doing?"

"J-baby should be here." Skye said. "I programmed him on my phone the other day. Why, though, I have no idea. He is such a nanny and I'm not actually sure why I want him to be with me all the time."

"Thank you, Miss." JARVIS's voice spoke through her phone.

"Your welcome." Skye put the phone on the top of the car and put him on speaker. "Sir arriving." The plane was indeed landing and driving around the track to slow down. When the plane finally stopped and the door opened, Tony walked out with both hands in peace signs.

"Tony!" Skye ran to the steps and jumped at him. He caught her and spun her slightly.

"Skye!" He yelled. "How are you doing, darling?"

"Pretty good! I can't believe you're back!" She yelled back.

"Right though!"

"Children!" Pepper yelled over. "Get in the car, we need to get back to the tower so that we can talk. Come on." She pushed them to the car and inside before facing them. "Get in the car, loser. We're going shopping." Skye laughed and Pepper gave a proud head jerk nod. "I did like that movie."

"Movie Wednesday wasn't the same." Skye told Tony. She noticed a circle of blue in the middle of his chest and she leaned forward. "Ton, what's that?"

He put a hand over the circle but looked confused. "What's what?" She gave him an unimpressed look. "We'll talk later, Skye. Now, Pepper I need two things. Well, three we need to drop Skye off at home first." He started speaking and the car moved. Skye's phone dinged and she glanced at it to see the arc reactor plans. She looked up and Tony's eyes nodded for him. Skye paused, always happy to read classified information but not sure why it was important. Then it clicked.

An arc reactor in his chest. Numbers flashed in front of her eyes and she started forming the equations of the process. Whoa. Skye looked back at her phone and started memorizing any and all of the data. She had just gotten him back she wasn't going to lose him.

 

 

Skye leaned against the office door. Pepper was inside, searching for data on something for Tony. He wouldn't tell her, only give her a sad look like he had to tell her that her puppy had just bitten someone and had to be put down.

She jerked slightly as a tap on the door alerted her to the end of the search. She stepped aside and Pepper stepped out and nodded once. Both women walked hurriedly to the elevator and to Skye's floor before Pepper pulled out her cell phone.

"Tony. You were right. Something that Mr. Stane is doing is not on the books. Money just appears." Pepper reported. Skye scoffed. She would love for money to just appear. Christmas early.

The she realized what Pepper had said. Obi. Obi was doing this.

Skye slowly shook her head in denial. Obi wouldn't do that. He had accepted her with no questions, was moving with Tony's plan on no weapons despite an early disagreement. Obi was a good guy. He had been there when Tony disappeared. He had taken care of everything and let her stay in the tower to finish her holograms. All she had had to do was finish some of the rough sketches started by Tony on some weapons- oh.

Skye mentally slapped herself. Ah.

Pepper hung up and walked over to pour herself a glass from the bar. "You want one?" She offered. Skye, still lost in her mind, shook her head and spoke without thinking.

"What? Uh no thanks. Tony’s making me cut back- apparently seventeen is too young to be an alcoholic even if the teen is working on her second doctorate." She wondered if she could call in some friends to take care of the problem. That lady had offered to help with anything the year before.

Skye turned when there was a crash behind her and she saw Pepper looking at her with a shocked expression. “What?” Skye frowned before realizing she had said and shook her head.

"Nothing. I was just kidding. Ha-ha. You know me." She tried. Pepper looked unimpressed and Skye was faintly admiringly of her quick expression change. Pepper started forward slowly and Skye matched her pace backing up. "Pepper. Peps, let's be reasonable. I think we need to get our priorities in order here for a minute." This seemed to snap Pepper to reality and she nodded, pulling out her phone again.

"We are going to have a talk, a long one that you will probably say has too much emotion. It will be so damn fun that by the end you won't dare to keep important things like this secret." Pepper threatened. Skye nodded, knowing better than to protest but already thinking of ways to escape it. "Good, now go scram. I need to call help and Tony would kill me if anyone knew you knew him. Probably best if you're so far underage." Skye moved to the elevator and pressed up to Tony's floor as Pepper dialed the number.

Tony's floor was too quiet and Skye felt all the hair on her arms and neck rise. "J-baby? J, where is Tony?" There was no answer and Skye paused before running in and to the piano in the corner. Everything was visibly from there.

She froze before she arrived. Tony was lying on the floor, a hole where the blue light used to be, SHOULD BE. Skye fell to her knees and slid over to him, putting his head in her lap. "Tony? What do you need? Are you all right?" It was a stupid question to ask, but somehow that question came out with the rest. Tony didn't answer but his eyes flickered to the desk where a container sat with the first, crude mini-arc reactor. She jumped up, wincing as his head hit the floor with a thud, and ran to grab the jar.

It was sealed at the top with a thumbprint and she recognized the standard Stark casing. It would only allow the owners in, but if Pepper had been telling the truth when she said she had made the present for Tony (she had been making sure Tony wouldn't take it offensively. Somehow it was assumed Skye knew everything that happened in Afghanistan and would know what triggered his PTSD as well as normal emotions. Skye had decided to take it as a compliment since it was almost scarily true), then the thumb taken would be Pepper's, Tony's, and hers. She pressed her thumb into the hidden slot and the whole container opened for her.

Skye lifted the reactor and rolled through the blueprints in her head. She was 89% certain she could put it back, but the 11% was what was important to her. She stopped and turned to focus on the part of her that believed in herself. She took a breath and moved the reactor to press in gently. As she was to place it in, Tony's hand shot up and grabbed her hand, navigating her hands.

"Thank God." Skye gasped, letting him take it over. Once it was inside and Tony was taking gasping breaths to recover, she collapsed, hugging him tightly. "T-Tony!" She realized she was sobbing but couldn't stop. Skye struggled to sit up push slightly away from Tony. "Obi hurt you didn't he?" Tony nodded slightly, still weak. He struggled to sit, and then stand up and pushed a tablet toward her.

"JARVIS." He whispered. She nodded and quickly coded herself into JARVIS's mainframe and brought him back online. Obi had clearly not understood what he was doing- stupid since he worked with the program on the daily and was there when he was built and through all his early changes and developments- and had just rewritten the codes to have a few less 1 and 0 and create a back door.

"He's up and running. You want to-?" She started to speak but was interrupted by the fact that there was no one she was speaking to. "JARVIS?"

"Sir is currently in the suit." He answered. Skye nodded, annoyed.

"Of course he is. Where the hell else would he be after almost dying?" Skye snapped. She shook her head and waved the fact away. "Whatever. There will be time to tell him he was stupid later. Remind me to tell him, J." JARVIS confirmed he would.

 

 

 

Skye walked into the house to see Tony and Rodney talking. "Hello darlings!" She called. She threw her bag on the table and stepped out of her sandals. "I bought the best birthday present for Pepper, don't worry Tony we can totally say it was from both of us." Skye glanced over and paused. "You are not, Rodney."

"You're a genius too." The man said dryly. He had an eye patch covering one eye and a scar running around it. He was completely decked in leather to the point that Skye would have turned around and left if not for the trench coat covering him some.

"Nah, she just cleans my pools." Tony interjected smoothly. Then he paused and waved a finger at the older man. "You need something from me." He stated. Skye went to creep out but Tony held up a hand for her to wait. "I'll work with your little boy band, I'll even house the other when they meet, but I want something in return. Starting now and involving anything in the past, Skye doesn't exist, and she never did. If at anytime she does, I stop everything. SHIELD will fall; everyone will know your name and what you do. Your planes won't fly, your Internet won't connect, and every security protocol to keep you safe will turn against you." Tony was the most serious she had ever seen him, including when she was deciding her doctoral and had tried to go to CalTech instead of MIT. He had full on intimidation mode in and she almost feared him. "You keep her an actual secret, or I will destroy you."

The other man considered the offer before nodding slowly. "Reasonable. She stays hidden though, she can't start doing anything crazy to test it." Tony glanced toward her and she nodded. She could handle that.

"Okay." She said. The two men shook on it before she spoke again. "Who are you?"

"Director Nick Fury." He introduced. "In charge of SHIELD." Skye tilted her head in confusion before the abbreviation was clarified as she remembered the business card Pepper had gotten at the press conference after Tony had gotten back.

"Okay." She repeated. He gave her a card before he left, no name written on it, only numbers.

She entered it in her phone under Uncle Nick.


	3. Natasha

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I know not all that may be coming, but be it what it will, I'll go to it laughing.”  
> ― Herman Melville

Skye walked past the overflowing stalls, gripping her bag tighter as the eyes of the beggars closed in on it.

For some reason the Vatican City was actually the place where she got robbed the most, although the same person never robbed her again. Skye knew how to defend her purse. A woman suddenly darted out in front of her, dressed in multicolored rags and speaking halting Italian. She gestured toward Skye's bag, repeating, "You help. You help."

Skye glanced at her purse and shook her head. The bag had different medical symbols on it, but it had been bought at a thrift store (making Tony wince and offer her thousand dollars to buy something else). "I am not an actual doctor." Skye replied in Italian. She attempted English repeating the phrase, but her expression didn't change. She considered trying another language, but she didn't have a chance.

The woman ignored her and just tugged on her arm. "Please. You help her." She rambled. Skye gave up and let herself be dragged away. As soon as she was out of the sight of everyone the woman offered her bag. "Cover head. Not safe." Skye waved her hand and shook her head.

"No bag. I go freely, but I'll leave if the bag is brought in." She said. The lady agreed and put the bag down.

"No bag." She nodded. Skye didn't see the needle until it was being pulled away. Right before the last of her senses were ripped way, Skye wished she had just taken the damn bag.

A pounding headache and feeling of lead in her bones greeted Skye as she woke up. She lay still for several moments, not daring to move and further frustrate her body. It felt like the time she had just joined the carnival and Muscle Mike had snuck in some heavy alcohol, Skye had not moved for days after.

"You awake?" A man's voice. Skye opened her eyes and glanced over to see the man sitting on a chair. She took a second to stare at him, just five seconds. He was dressed all in black- a black vest, black pants, black boots, black tool belt. Even his hair was black. The silver metal arm contrasted vastly, making her eyes drawn to it. "You awake?" He repeated, seeming so lost that Skye almost forgave him for kidnapping her.

"Yeah." Skye said, she struggled into a sitting position and he reached out his hands to help. He seemed to honestly want to help and not know how.

He was adorable.

"You are a doctor?" He asked. "You can help her?" Skye hesitantly shook her head in denial.

"No, sorry." She admitted. "I'm," she paused and sighed, frustrated. "Sorry, do you speak anything beside Italian? English, German, even Swahili though disclaimer, I only know rough vocabulary on Swahili. Turns out most of the vocab I was taught on that language were curses." She shrugged then regretted the babble as the Metal looked even more confused.

She let her words sink in before pushing forward. He ended up nodding and switching to English. "You can not heal her?"

Skye glanced around the white room, but only saw a door, table, and thick glass window beside the bed. "Who is this 'she'?" Skye asked. "If I saw her and her injury, I might be able to help. I helped a little when I was younger with injuries, and I can help with small things." Skye decided to downplay her skills just in case it was over her head- she was still working on a medical degree.

She had stopped stitching people back together years ago. Despite the occasional help given to Tony, there was no need for her medical skills. Not even Tony had needed anything worse than sewing the tip of a finger back on one time after he cut it off with drunken science.

Not his smartest move. She had almost refused to fix it.

"Come then." Silver requested. It was more like a command, but requests always seemed nicer. He walked to the door and opened it, gesturing for Skye to follow. Skye jumped off the bed- wincing at the drop and how it jarred her leg. It seemed like she had hurt her leg somehow, bad enough that she had to walk with a limp.

She ignored the pain and followed Silver out of the room. The hallway reminded her of a mental hospital. White walls and thick windows with metal bars screamed "YOU'LL NEVER GET OUT ALIVE!" Skye could almost hear the evil laugh. She shivered.

They stopped walking to see a steel door with a window slide-panel. Silver grabbed a key from his belt and unlocked the door. "In here." Skye walked in and saw there was no window, just a bed in there. A woman with bright red hair was laid out on the bed. Blood was pooling over layers of bandages still and the woman had taken on a sickly pale color.

Skye fell forward and stumbled into the room, her mind going instinctively going back to the information Millie had passed on while working the circuit. "Alright, I'm going to need a sanitized needle and thread, as well as a couple gauze pads. You did great putting pressure on it, but we need to fix it. Also, grab some alcohol, like the heavy duty stuff." She heard the door close and lock behind her and her head shot up. Her hands pressed into the woman's side as she stared at the door.

What. A. Bastard.

Skye turned back to the woman. One hand stayed on the wound and the other patted the rest of her to find another one. There were small cuts on her arms and legs, a couple bullet scars, long scars on her back, and a chip missing from her ear. "Damn girl." She muttered. "What the hell happened to you?" The main problem was the one on her stomach.

The door opened and Skye whipped around to check on who got in and almost sighed in relief. Silver was standing there with a cart of the supplies she wanted. There was a bottle of Scotch and a bottle of Vodka on the top. "Oh, thank God." She grabbed the Scotch poured it on the wound, pushing the bandages aside. Once it was clean, Skye set it aside to take a long gulp of the Vodka. The sharp burn woke her up and her head settled.

"Thanks. You mind grabbing the needle and threading it?" The thread was vivid black and Skye could only imagine the reaction of the woman once she woke up. Silver handed her a needle, slightly bent. "Thanks."

Skye focused on sewing up the wound, stopping twice more to pour alcohol and take sips. "You know, the woman who taught me this would always sing as she worked. Said it calmed the reapers that would take people before she could heal them. Only time she was superstitious was around death. Said it was the one thing that would come in the end, but she didn't want to see the bright light too soon." Skye spoke. She smiled at the memories. "It was usually nursery rhymes or lullabies. I knew it was serious when she sang songs like Carry on my Wayward Son or Eye of the Tiger. Love those songs though. My favorite was when she would sing songs I could hum to. I think she did it on purpose sometimes, just to relax me." Skye glanced up to see Silver staring fascinatingly at her. She smiled and thought of a song to sing. "Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home." She sang. She sang several verses, repeating some when she got too close to the end. When she finished the stitches, Skye lay gauze on it and wrapped it with the white rags Silver had brought.

"Will she live?" He asked. She nodded.

"Yep." Skye hesitated before asking, "How did she get shot?" Silver flinched slightly and stared heatedly at her. She held up her hands in surrender. "Hey, you don't have to tell me. Just wondering, but I remember what Pepper used to tell me about curiosity. That cat killed will not be me. Nope, no sir. Forget I asked."

Silver stopped glaring and instead as looking puzzled. For an intimidating guy, he kind of reminded Skye of a lost puppy. Everything he felt went straight to his face. "You talk to a spice?"

It took a minute for her to register what he said and then she laughed. Of course that would make perfect sense to him. "Oh, no, honey. I talked to a woman named Pepper." She resisted the urge to hug him and hide him from the world. From the faint smears on his metal arm (hinting that he probably was the one behind the gun) it was probably best that she refrained herself.

Something about assassins didn't seem cuddly.

Skye stood up from her crouch and stretched, feeling the muscles in her back move and pop loudly. "So, Shiny. You going to kick me out or should I cook something to eat?" Skye asked. In the back of her mind, a voice sounding suspiciously like Pepper scolded her and reminded her that she was at the mercy of the one she called "Shiny", but Skye quickly squashed that voice.

No use being negative.

Besides, Skye was a master at denial. She was completely successful in denying that she was anywhere but the Stark mansion in Italy at the moment. Yep. Totally there.

"You can eat." Silver said. He walked out the door, holding it open for Skye to follow out. She did and he quickly locked the door behind her. "She will not attack." He muttered. Skye felt her curiosity peaked again, but decided not to answer.

Silver lead her to a kitchen that looked ages old. The tile floor was cracked, tiles overlapping as if too lazy to correct themselves. The counter tops were made of multiple stones, each cracked in a unique way. Skye's eyes went to a fridge and oven that stood out in contrast, as it looked a week old at the most. She walked to the fridge and opened it.

Mostly just vegetables were stored, but there was grilled chicken with a sticky note with the words 'MINE- DON'T TOUCH, DAD' in sloppy Italian. Skye felt a pang of worry for the writer of the note before shrugging it off. The family was probably just on a vacation somewhere… hopefully.

She opened the container and gave it a sniff. Smelled fine. She put it on the counter and selected the tomatoes. On the counter there was a vial of Olive Oil and pots with spices growing. Skye thought back to Chloe had gone through her plant phase in college. There had been all sorts of plants around the dorm for a semester before it all began dying and they had been written up as the floor monitor had thought they were selling pot.

"That one is thyme, and that one is rosemary, and that one is parsley, and that one is sage, and," Skye muttered pointing to each herb growing. She grabbed a few and set them aside with the tomato. Silver offered her the choice of five different pots and she choose two. "See if you can find noodles, would you?" Skye started mixing the ingredients and heating it up. "My friend, Tony, taught me how to cook Italian you know. He can't cook an egg worth crap, but he could whip up an Italian dish like that was his mission in life." She mused.

"You have big family?" Silver asked, he came back with a packet of pasta and set it on the table. She turned up the heat on the stovetop and set the pot of water on it.

Skye shrugged. "Big enough. Orphan, though, so all of my family gets to be chosen. Much better than the whole biological family thing apparently. What about you? You got a family hidden somewhere you go home to?"

Silver looked confused and he slowly shook his head. "I don't think so."

She didn't ask what he meant, instead nodding slowly. "Okay. Hey, you know how long we're going to be here? I have to check up on Tony soon. He just got back from Afghanistan like a month ago and he sent me away while he changes some stuff, but I kind of need to get back to him. Leave him alone too long and he starts thinking crazy and being stupid."

"Not too long." Silver said after a pause. "The girl just needs to live."

Skye nodded. She didn't mention that a hospital would be better than a girl who had gone to college for computers. Granted though she had finally finished her first doctorate on theoretical AI's impacts on society- not mentioning the creation of JARVIS or Friday as the governments would want to dissect them- so she could at least claim to be a doctor.

Thinking of Friday made her consider sending a signal to Jarvis who would tell either Obi or Tony her location. She ran her fingers over the pendent where the younger AI was on her necklace but decided against it. The wounded girl might not get help without her.

Skye had been at the house for at least a week before she woke up alone.

On all of the past days Silver had been sleeping in a chair in her room, guarding the door to make sure she didn't leave. They would go to the girl's room and check her bandages. She had yet to wake up and Skye would have assumed that the Silver was drugging the girl if there were no needle marks on her other than where the stitches were.

Skye had grown fond of Silver in the time, and she was surprised to be developing a bigger normal protective streak around him. The more time passed the more he seemed to be remembering his life. A man named Steve was mentioned in most of the stories of his past, Steve convincing him to join the army. There seemed to be a gap in his memory, but it was nice what he remembered.

She crawled out of bed and walked to the door. Testing it, she was surprised that the door actually opened. Skye walked barefoot down the hallway to the girl's usually locked room and tested that door too. It opened and she cautiously peaked her head around the door.

The redhead was on the bed, still sleeping. Skye decided to switch out the bandages and sat down on the chair by the bed. She reached down for the supplies by the bed and froze as a hand grabbed her throat.

She held her hands up in surrender as the air was blocked from entering her lungs. "No… weapon." She gasped in Italian.

The hands retreated slightly but the needle for stitches was pressed against her throat. "Where am I?" The other girl asked. Her voice was raspy from disuse and Skye was secretly impressed she could talk at all.

Skye shook her head as much as she could. "I don't know." She said. The hands tightened a little more. "Silver knows, that's the only other person though. Sorry."

"Who are you?"

"Skye."

"Where is this person? Silver?"

Skye felt a pang as she answered. "Gone. He left sometime last night or this morning. Look, are you okay? I can change your bandages if you need. It's about time to. Afterward we can part ways if you want."

The redhead looked skeptical but released her. Skye let her keep the needle as she unwrapped the fabric around the other girl's waist and wrapped clean fabric instead. "Did Silver have a metal arm?"

Skye hummed an agreement. "Yep. Why? You know him?" The girl gave her a weird look but nodded.

"We have met. He was the one who shot me." She seemed to measure Skye's lack of reaction. "You knew that?"

Skye paused in what she was doing and looked at the other. "Most people don't have blood stains and a girl with a bullet in her at the same time through a coincidence. It just doesn't happen that often. So yeah, I was able to figure out that much fairly quickly. He seemed to an okay guy beside that though."

"He kills for fun."

Skye wrapped the girl in silence before standing up to leave. There should still be soup from the other day. She paused in the doorway as she thought of the carnival. "No one kills for fun. They kill to get to a new destination, a new goal, a new paycheck, but never because they think it is fun."

She walked to the kitchen and grabbed a glass and poured scotch in it. Skye grabbed her necklace and turned the top slightly. Friday connected to her location quickly and spoke. "Hello Miss. How are you?"

The AI had already scanned her for any bodily damage- done so before even pinpointing the location- so Skye shrugged. "I'm good. You mind telling J I'm fine?"

There was a pause and a familiar British voice transmitted instead. "Good evening, Skye. Sir has had me inform you that since you have not checked in two weeks a video conference is demanded at your earliest chance."

Skye smirked. "I bet he said it exactly like that."

"Of course." JARVIS was definitely not the same AI that she spoke to for hours at a time right after he was created to get him to learn English. He had gained enough sass that he was officially a teenager. Friday would be getting there soon.

"I'll call him when I can. It might take a while. I'm not actually sure where I have been for the past few days." Skye confessed. There was a pause.

"Your location has been sent to Sir. I need to cut this call off to fully communicate with him but I have communicated with Friday and she has agreed to stay online during this." Skye protested, but quickly stopped when she realized he had already disconnected. She sighed and poured another glass to take to the other girl. Might as well warn her that Tony Stark would be showing up soon.

She walked up to the room, bumping it open with her hip. Skye froze in the doorway.

The other girl was hobbling to the window, a familiar man in the window. He was leaning toward the girl, a hand out to help. They were moving fast- too fast to be civilians. Skye was about to back up and pretend not to have noticed anything, but the door squeaked gently and the others turned to her.

Skye faintly registered the two glasses dropping but she just stared at the man- at Clint. "Fuck." She muttered. He said her name and that snapped her out of her daze. "What the actual hell, Clint? Where have you been for the past years?" She crossed her arms to wait for an answer, but he was just staring at her.

"Are you an agent?" The other girl asked her. Skye shook her head negatively.

"Um, no. An agent for who?" She responded. Instantly both looked at her warily. "Never mind, then." She paused. Both were tense and Clint's eyes widened just enough for her, who had grown up next to his expressions, to tell he was surprised.

"What-?" He started by Friday chose that moment to speak.

"Miss, Mr. Sir is wanting to know if you are alright." She said. Skye pinched the top of her nose but answered her AI.

She spoke slowly. "Tell him that I am fine and if he keeps overreacting I will pour all of his Scotch down the drain and put his playroom onto lockdown for a month. Also, tell J to call off the dogs." She kept her eyes on the two at the window as she spoke. There was no visible change in them, but the air seemed less heavy.

There was no response from the artificial intelligence but Skye was not expecting one. She was still teaching polite conversation to the necklace. She looked at both of the others, still standing hesitantly in the window as if waiting for some cue. "I'm going to go downstairs. There's vodka, coffee, and cheap scotch. Five and five." She turned and walked back to the kitchen, hoping that they would follow.

Five and five was a game that had been introduced in the carnival. It was simple, and usually started by the muscle men or the bearded lady. Each player took five shots of whatever alcohol they chose to start it. Then they would answer one question posed by each member of the group. Since there were only three of them it would be more correct to five and two, but Skye figured there would multiple questions that wanted answering.

She laid out three shot glasses and put both bottles beside them. She fingered the necklace, tempted to speak and check on an eventual ride home, but the feeling of eyes on her stopped her. "Cheater, cheater. I taught you how to get through air vents, Circus-boy. Get your ass out here or leave." Clint dropped out of the ceiling and Skye pushed a glass toward him even as she spoke English again. "You can come out from behind the door, Strawberry. I was around you for the past bit. Even at the risk of sounding like a stalker, I know how you smell and can smell you from here."

Clint snorted. "You sounded like a stalker," he confirmed. Skye shrugged and pushed the last glass toward the girl cautiously entering the room. It was silent as each picked their own drink to pour and toss back five times. Once the fifth glass was done Clint let out a breath and looked at Skye. "What is the name of Sir?"

Skye gave him a measured look. "Tony Stark." He looked like he was about to laugh but saw her expression and looked at her shocked.

"Why are you not known?" The woman asks.

Skye turned toward her. "I don't exist. According to records, I never have, hopefully never will. Who are you?"

"Mary Clark." Clint muttered to her in Russian and she frowned but corrected herself. "Natasha."

Skye waited to see if a last name would be added as well, but none came. She nodded in acceptance. "Clint, who do you work for?"

"The Director. Tasha, did you steal my Oreos?" Natasha rolled her eyes but nodded.

"How do you know Clint?" There was a pause in which more drinks were poured. Each person took the shots before Skye answered.

"Through the circus." She was about to expand but her Friday interrupted.

"Miss. Mr. Stane wishes to inform you that you are requested to join him and Mr. Sir tomorrow. It is requested that you arrive two hours early for make-up." She reported. Skye hummed an agreement. She would need to check on Friday’s coding if she was interrupting Skye's conversations.

The problem with AIs was that there was not a pre-coded program. Everything created was new and unchecked.

"Sorry. Reminders." Was all Skye said aloud.

"What is that?" Clint asked. Skye paused, looking between him and Natasha for a few minutes.

It was not that she didn't trust them specifically, it was not personal. It was just that her AIs were special, her children that no one else got to know about. Both JARVIS and Friday were dangerous. They got information from all over the world, both websites and national security agencies, in a matter of seconds and processed it just as fast.

Skye didn't know Natasha. She hadn't seen Clint since she was twelve, over three years ago. He could have changed since she knew him. Plus, both worked for the Director, someone both AIs would not tell her about because of Tony's insistence and Tony only would insist if it hurt someone.

She bit her lip before taking a deep breath and speaking. "Computer-generated program."

Clint tilted his head. "Like a blue-tooth?" Skye snorted.

"Jesus. How old are you? A blue-tooth? This is not a blue-tooth. It's more of a speaking Google-mixed with voice-mail than blue-tooth." She laughed. "So, what have you been doing?"

"Assassin."

Skye nodded. She had kind of expected that to be honest. She glanced at Natasha and the other girl understood the question.

"Assassin."

"Okay." Skye took a free shot and nodded. She was drinking with assassins, had been doing so since she was taken to this house. At least she could honestly say that the majors at MIT that said majoring in computers would be boring would be wrong.

"What about you? Three things you've been doing." Clint said.

Skye shrugged. "The usual. High school, college, doctorate."

"You're a doctor?" Natasha asked, surprise coating her words. Skye nodded.

"Yep. Doctor in computer science, computer engineering, artificial intelligence, just got one in biomedical engineering, and attempting to become a medical doctor, but its though online school." Skye recited proudly. She had progressed a lot once Tony had taken her off the poll. Using a couple aliases she was able to get a few doctorates at once.

Clint grinned at her. "Dang, genius. You got all that and you're working under Tony Stark? You could start your own company."

She never corrected the assumption that she worked for Tony but shook her head on the last part. "I only have a bachelors in business and that was too much. It is the dullest subject and all anyone wanted to do was party. Not even in good clubs, but the kind that has crappy music, crappy lights, and drugs everywhere. It was a rave every time."

Clint just laughed and shook his head. He turned to the redhead and nodded to Skye. "She's only sixteen, too. Girl's a genius." He turned back to her. "We'll talk about that club thing later. You're too smart for any of that, not to mention way too young." Skye just rolled her eyes.

They talked for another few hours before Clint relayed that Natasha and he had to leave. They offered her a trip home but Skye declined. Natasha promised that someone would clean the house of fingerprints and blood. Natasha had opened up a little at the end, still not revealing anything but sharing a few jokes and smiling at old stories Skye and Clint shared.

Clint gave her a long hug, letting Skye compose herself during it so she didn't do anything embarrassing like cry. Natasha kissed her forehead and murmured a short phrase in Russian- Skye decided to learn that language next- and whispered a phone number.

She stood in front of the villa and waved at them as Clint sped away in a bright yellow sports car. It wasn't until they were through the gate and darting right before Skye lowered her hand and crossed her arms.

She waited for a minute before reaching a hand to her necklace. "Friday, where am I?"

 


	4. Bruce

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I’m a monster,” said the shadow of the Marquess suddenly. “Everyone says so.” 
> 
> The Minotaur glanced up at her. “So are we all, dear,” said the Minotaur kindly. “The thing to decide is what kind of monster to be. The kind who builds towns or the kind who breaks them.” 
> 
> ― Catherynne M. Valente, The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There

The cafe she was in was a small, dimly lit place. There were booths lining the walls and a TV over a bar in the corner. Normally the people that entered where conspiracy theorists that wanted to catch the rare glimpse of Iron Man from the tower down the street.

Skye knew that he would only come if she tipped him off that there was someone worth coming to see. Maria Hill, Uncle Nick's second in command whom Skye had met after being taken hostage in a bank robbery, would stop by sometimes to give messages and paperwork to Skye to give to Tony. Sometimes Skye would have Tony come down directly for this, but mostly he just came down if an excited kid came in or a veteran.

Maria walked in and slid into the seat across the booth from her, pinching off a piece of the younger girl's bagel. "How's the child?"

"Tony's good. You can come by to see him any time you know. He may yell through the door, but he normally will allow you to speak into a microphone so you don't have to yell. Does the same thing with Uncle Nick. I think it's a phase." She said, shrugging one shoulder.

Maria clicked her tongue and pinched another bite. "Do you have that book I gave you still? The one on China? I need it back for a project."

Skye vaguely remembered a file with Chinese writing on the cover sitting untouched on Tony's desk. "Possibly? I'll look for it. When do you need it?"

"As soon as possible." She paused. "Okay, date tonight." Maria slid over her phone and clicked open to pictures. "Black or green dress?" Skye looked at both of them. They were gorgeous dresses in the picture, both looking silky and just revealing enough to give a hint, but still be classy.

"Fancy event, wear the green. Less fancy, more casual, wear the black. Both are gorgeous though." Skye recommends. Maria nodded, taking back the offered phone and standing.

"Thanks." She walked out of the cafe and Skye looked back to her laptop. The chat room was full, everyone posting comments and rumors of the newest hero sighting. An email popped up and she clicked to respond.

A friend from her latest, and probably last, college adventure was trying to convince her to sign up for a program in New Mexico with her. Darcy was convinced that the program would be easy, as "its just astrophysics!"

The door dinged open and Skye glanced up to see a man walk in that instantly grabbed her attention.

He was young, maybe late twenties. His clothes didn't fit him, hanging off of him like he had lost at least twenty pounds faster than he was buying clothes. He entered the cafe cautiously, not as if he were afraid of those eating, but like he was afraid of his reaction to them. Skye quickly shoved her laptop closed and into her bag.

He was someone to talk to.

She walked to the counter as he ordered, jumping onto the stool beside him as she lay the bag in front of her on the counter. He peered curiously at her before seeming to realize that he should not be curious and snapped his eyes down and forward.

"Hey, Martha. Hit me up with another, would you?" Skye requested, making her tone as ridiculous as possible. Martha seemed to understand what she was doing and didn't comment beside rolling her eyes and sliding her a new mug. "Thanks, doll." Matha pointed a finger warningly at her before wiping her hands on the rag around her waist.

Beside her the man snorted in amusement.

Mission accomplished.

"I'm Skye." She introduced herself, shoving a hand toward him. He looked at it nervously before shaking it gently.

"Bruce." He said. He shoved his glasses higher on his nose and shifted slightly.

"So, Brucie. What brings you to this cafe?"

He shrugged. "My feet."

Sarcastic. Bonus!

"I can respect that. You look nervous, like I-have-a-really-really-big-secret-and-I- want-to-tell-but-shouldn't kind of nervous." He shrugged again and she continued. "Seriously, I know my nervousness. I have this brother, short guy always making trouble, and when this girl that works with him gets this look on her face, he is terrified nervous. He once hid from her for, like, two weeks after he forgot to go to a meeting he promised to and she got the look. I'm actually practicing the look, but I'm not as good. I always start laughing halfway though. It's bad." Skye paused to take a sip and Bruce seemed to inch away slightly. "You want to tell me the secret?"

"No."

"Okay." She was expecting that.

They drank in silence for a few minutes before Skye's phone rang on the counter. She flicked it on and pressed it to her ear. "Skye."

"Congratulations, soon you may not owe me." Darcy's voice chirped.

Skye raised an eyebrow. "Why do I owe you now?" She could almost hear the other girl waving away the question.

"You need to bring a can of chocolate covered peanuts from the store on the corner. I have been craving those damn things for so long, but apparently we aren't allowed to order things from online anymore. Honestly, you buy one magazine and everyone gets upset."

"I don't think it was the one magazine as much as it was the three dozen before it. And when I go where?"

"Here, New Mexico, of course. Where else? I got you the internship. You can come work with Dr. Foster and me. Honestly, I know how much you wanted it so I pulled some strings and got you down here."

"No one else applied so you threw in my name to get in better standing with the doctor?" Skye guessed. There was a too long of pause that confirmed it. Skye sighed and rolled her eyebrows. "Send me the information. I'll be there." Skye said goodbye and hung-up. She took a longer sip of her drink and turned back to Bruce. "So how's life lately?"

He shrugged, deadpanned, "Well, it's been awhile since I saw you last, so a lot has changed." He paused before seeming to crumble slightly. "I thought I got it right this time. I had been working on the project for so long, and thought I had finally created the perfect ratio of ingredients. The chemicals were in proper order and everything seemed equal. It was going to be a breakthrough, save so many lives. I thought I had officially come up with the… answer." He gave a bitter smirk. "It wasn't though. I messed up and, oh, God. I really messed up." He sighed and put his head in his hands. "I can't get back from this."

Skye gave him a long look. "You can move back from everything."

"Not this. I'm a monster now."

Skye sighed and took a long sip of her coffee. "You know, two years ago I knew a man I saw as an uncle. I loved him and would have done anything for him. He had saved my life, my future and me. Without him I would probably be dead in a ditch somewhere. Tony helped me, but a few words from this man and I would have been a distant memory. He saved me." Skye looked over to see Bruce looked at her bewildered. "Two years ago he tried to kill me and the people I loved. He arranged for my Tony's death twice and I thank God that it didn't take either time. I loved him and he showed that he loved none of us. I tried to deny that for a while. I thought that if I spent enough time ignoring the fact that he attempted murder than he did not actually do it." She swallowed. "He was a monster. He did what he did to get attention and money. From what you say your motive was, you're not a monster."

He gave a short laugh. "That is why I did it, though. I wanted the money; the knowledge that people knew my name and would say my name is awe. I'm no better than any other monster."

Skye tilted her head before throwing a five-dollar bill on the counter and put her mug down. She grabbed her bag and his arm and separated him from the counter. "Come on, I want to show you something. Don't worry, I'm not a creeper or anything."

"You couldn't take me." He said, almost sadly. Skye shrugged.

"You might be surprised." He just shook his head. Either way he allowed himself to be pulled from the cafe and down streets to a subway station. It was one of the most abandoned ones she had seen; it was why she had gone down it the first time. What Clint called "adrenaline-junkie" she preferred to think of as "carefully curious".

A few people walked by with dogs before Skye darted into the opening and pulled the man after her. The steps were littered with paper wrappers and cups. They walked down the stairs and Skye jumped the turn-style looking back at Bruce who paused before following.

"This does nothing for your protests against being a creeper." He pointed out. Skye rolled her eyes and just pulled him a bit further. As they walked further into the station, music became steadily louder. It was a mix of jazz and something else, somehow both soothing and energizing at once.

They took a last turn and saw a large man sitting cross-legged on a mat, a radio beside him. A few feet away from him two women sat with canvases, painting various shapes and colors that did not seem to have a visible muse. A man in his mid-twenties was leaning against another wall as he sat on the floor, smoking a cigarette and clicking away at a laptop.

Skye led him toward the edge of the platform, and kicking lightly to roll one of the paintbrushes back toward the girls. She hopped down from the platform, and he made a surprised sound.

"Relax, darling. This tunnel was shut down years ago. No electricity moves here. You can take a nap on these rails and you'll be fine. A few dollars down, maybe, but fine." She promised. He hesitated, but then jumped down. Skye smiled and reached into her bag to pull out the flashlight Tony always made her keep incase she found midnight inspiration for an invention but didn't have light.

She flicked on the switch and pointed it to the wall, illuminating all that she could. "Modern day cave art."

On the wall there were different graffiti names, symbols, and elaborate designs. It was usual, art that could normally be seen on the alley walls, designed to be a message for whoever walked by- 'I was here', 'They couldn't touch me', 'This wall is mine' 'I ran the fast and never stopped'.

Then, surrounded in the colors but somehow standing out, there were the stories that Skye had brought him there for.

A man was sketched chasing a girl with a ripped dress. A woman was waving her hands angrily towards a man. A child was hiding under a table while pant legs stood in back of it solidly. A man stood with a flag behind him, people listening rapidly while the faded picture of a crying woman was in the background. The art continued, depicting scenes that had made Skye cry when she first saw them.

"These are the monsters." Skye whispered. "When I was nine I thought I knew all of the monster's faces, that I had seen them all. I was so wrong. I met so many more monsters, and while I don't know them all I know you are not one. You have a good heart, you showed care in your science. Thinking you're a monster will only tear you apart."

She looked back at Bruce to see him staring at the wall, and he smiled wetly at her. He nodded once and she smiled back.

"You know where to find me, I'm there most days and Maria knows how to contact me. Stay safe, Bruce." Skye said again softly, kissing his cheek gently before climbing out of the tunnel and out toward the street.

Bruce sat across from her in the booth a week later.


	5. Thor and Matt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If there ever comes a day when we can't be together, put me in your heart and I'll stay there forever.  
> \- Winnie the Pooh

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, so I know it has been a while and I'm sorry about that. However, you may want to reread the previous chapters because I added some and made it better!  
> So I have been attempting for SOOO long to write in Thor's voice and this is all I have. I am so sorry about it being so short, but I also included some Daredevil in here I hope you enjoy!

Thor

Skye was not expecting to meet a Norse god. She wasn't even really expecting to do anything more exciting than study the sky and spend time talking science with Darcy and her scientist.

It was going fairly well as expected but then there was a freak storm and suddenly a god was there- but not because he was mortal, but yes because there was no record of him in the area and SHIELD arrived with Calvary in tow. She had had to pull on knowledge from a brief mythology class in her first round of college to keep up with the names Thor was just casually dropping and not for the first time she wondered if someone had just slipped her LSD.

Now she was waiting in the lab for Selvig to return with the newly rescued Thor. Jane was trying to look over her old notes, but kept looking up and checking the door and clock. Darcy had given up the pretext of doing something else and was staring at the door like it would make the pair appear quicker.

"Do you think he's the real Thor? I mean why would they have taken our notes if he wasn't?" Darcy blurted out. Skye shrugged her shoulders vaguely.

"I can't think of a reason, but you never know. Maybe he's actually a time traveler and we were getting too close to figuring out the time-space continuum." She hypothesized. Darcy shot her a unappreciative look and shook her head.

What ever her response was halted by the door opening and the man in question walking in. He looked smaller than the last time she had seen him. Skye glanced at Darcy to see if the other woman saw it too and got a confirming nod.

Darcy made no outward sign that she had noticed the mood change and instead greeted him with the same enthusiasm as she had before. "Hey, Big Guy. How did you like the slammer? You trade a pack of smokes for your freedom?" Thor sent her a brief bemused look but didn't say anything. As if sensing the emotional talk about to happen, Darcy made a disgusted face and quickly turned to pretend to study a map of planet movements.

Jane was looking around for something to say and Skye quickly cut in before she blurted some random fact to break the tension. Jane was a brilliant scientist, but she was not the best at emotions.

"Thor, how about you help me grab a couple boxes from storage? We have to some notes that the agents took and to do that we have to review." Skye herded the man out of the room and toward the storage closet down the hall. He tried to protest, but Skye overlapped him as she kept rambling. "Let me tell you, getting this knowledge was a pain but we can still use it in the final results."

She almost missed Thor's whisper as they entered the extra room. "My father is dead." Skye paused before nodding slowly.

"How did you find out?"

"My brother appeared and informed me. He died not long after I was sent here." He looked broken and Skye gave into the urge to hug him. He tensed slightly before nearly collapsing. She thought about how to respond as tears wet her sweater's shoulder.

She had never known her parents- never had to deal with one of them dying or getting hurt. She had lost friends to time and death, but she supposed it was not the same as loosing the people who raised and supported you. She thought about how she felt when Tony was declared dead and channeled it into her response.

She absolutely did not think about how it felt loosing Stane. Not at all.

"Don't think of him as dead. When you think of him, think of him alive and present. Think of how he was at celebrations and with you and your brother as y'all grew up." She suggested. "From your stories he lived a good life and you should remember that rather than thinking of when you heard he had died or trying to imagine him as dead."

They stood there a few minutes as Thor regained control and Skye offered silent support.

* * *

 

Skye remembered that moment a few weeks later when three more gods appeared and with them a robot holding fire and a whole lot of unresolved issues.

"My brother wouldn't do this. He wouldn't send the Destroyer after me." Thor denied. Skye exchanged a look with Darcy and Jane.

"Um, Thor, big guy? Maybe we should sit down." Skye suggested. Thor ignored her and started pacing back and forth in the room. Jane stepped forward but Darcy stopped her and looked at Skye questioningly. Skye rolled her eyes but nodded, she would take care of it. "Thor, you need to calm down, alright?"

Thor only shook his head and continued pacing. "He wouldn't do this. We may have had our squabbles in the past, but he wouldn't try to kill me." Skye sighed, blowing out of her mouth.

"All right, big guy. I am about to sound really heartless, but I think you need to hear this." She stood up and put her hands on his shoulders. "Get over it." Thor blinked at her in surprise. "It's no longer about you. At this point, your brother is threatening to kill not only you, but also this entire town. Now, don't get me wrong I have somewhere else to go if things get too crazy, but Darcy kind of likes this place and I'm kind of fond of her. So, I need you to get over the fact you're in the line of fire and realize that there is a fucking town depending on you getting your shit together."

"He is my brother." Thor protested.

Skye frowned sympathetically, "Thor, I get that betrayal sucks. I really do; it hurts and you start thinking back to see if there were any signs and of course you find them in hindsight. But there's going to be time to figure that out later. Right now we need you to help us." Thor looked at her a few more minutes before nodding.

"Thank you, Lady Skye. My condolences for the losses you have suffered." Skye smiled sadly at him and leaned forward to kiss his cheek.

"It makes us stronger."

 

 

 

 

Skye

Skye slid into the bar stool, waving at the bartender to give her the drink of the day. She hadn't been back in Hells Kitchen for years, but it was still the same as she remembered.

She had been having a rough week with Tony working even longer hours and both of them trying not to think about the annual memorial luncheon for Stane coming up. Tony would have to go and make a speech about how much Stark Industries missed the man only to do the same at any press conference or fundraiser in the next month. Everyone wanted to talk about the dead man- everyone but the people who actually knew him.

The door opened with a ring and two men walked in debating the logistics of prosecuting a landlord for unsafe living conditions. Skye glanced over and froze when she recognized one of the men from her school days before Clint and the carnival. She quickly grabbed her drink- soda that Josie had given her through a pointed look.

Josie was one of the few bartenders in Hells Kitchen that wouldn't give her alcohol. Skye wouldn't admit it but it was part of the reason she kept coming back. It was nice to have someone care about those things.

The men were sitting at a table while the girl with them was ordering them drinks. Skye walked up to them and grinned as she realized she had recognized her old friend correctly. "If it isn't Matthew Murdock." The two men turned toward her, one trying to judge her appearance while the other grinned disbelievingly.

"Skye?" He laughed slightly and she did too. "Long time, no see."

She groaned at the pride in his voice. "Still haven't improved the jokes, huh?" Matt stood up and hugged her briefly, tugging her down to sit on the bench beside him. The other man was staring confusedly and the woman had come back with drinks to share the same expression. She quickly introduced herself. "Hey, I'm Skye. I used to go to school with Matt ages ago. We lived together for a bit too." She gave a smirk at the last comment as she was rewarded with the pair coughing on the alcohol they had just taken a sip of.

Matt bumped her shoulder and clarified. "We were raised by the same nuns for a bit. This is Foggy and Karen. The three of us have our own law practice." Skye nodded and they exchanged small talk for a bit before Karen had to slip away to meet friends. Matt headed to the bathroom and Foggy leaned toward her with a serious look.

"What do you want from Matt?" She gave him a startled look and he continued. "I may be a little oblivious, but I have recently received some news thats made me a little suspicious of people and you are clearly hiding something. You have yet to tell us anything from your past beside your time with Matt." Skye tilted her head and studied him some more.

Suddenly the memory of Matt boxing came to mind, combined with the gymnastic skills he had practiced while she had watched the door for any overly-protective nuns. She couldn't stop the grin from reaching her face. She had solved the mystery of Hells Kitchen before Tony could.

She leaned forward as well and dropped her tone to a level that the people nearby couldn't hear them. "Never tell people you know when they are hiding something. If they can't tell you know, you are a foot above in the conversation. Also, you just gave away Matt's secret costume collection. I know you didn't mean to, but you did and if you are going to know about it you need to protect that knowledge." Foggy looked conflicted between anger with himself and suspicion toward her. "Also, I would rather not talk about his fondness for leather at the moment so if we could not mention it again tonight it would be great. I do so hate him trying to deflect, and I suspect over the decade since I've seen him last he hasn't gotten any better. Now, I came here for a drink and recognized an old friend. I would love it if we could just focus on that and not on any extracurricular activities."

She leaned back as the door to the bathroom opened and Matt strode out. He paused in walking over to the table and cautiously approached. "Is something wrong?" Skye glanced at Foggy and allowed him to decide how the conversation would continue.

"Nah, Skye was just telling me why she moved out of the home." He said. Skye flashed him a grateful smile and shifted over to allow Matt back on the bench.

"Well, I joined the circus."

 

Two days later Foggy got an email inviting him to a support group. Pepper, Skye, Jane, Darcy, and Hill (and sometimes Natasha when she wan't on a mission) had created the group for people who cared about superheroes and vigilantes. He arrived and almost two months later Karen arrived in tow.


End file.
